328 
determine how long certain pathogenic bac- 
teria could remain alive in the clay. Ster- 
ilized clay was inoculated under proper 
precautions, with the bacilli of typhoid, 
diphtheria and tuberculosis. The clay was 
then kept moist and warm, and studied 
periodically for the presence of these organ- 
isms. The results were, briefly, as follows: 
B. Typhi abdominalis grew vigorously after 
having been enclosed in the clay for 32 days. 
After that no colonies were found. OB. 
diphtheria grew after having been enclosed 
in the clay for 18 days. B. tuberculosis was 
alive after 18 days. How much longer the 
latter two bacilli would remain alive in the 
clay the author did not determine. The ex- 
periments, however, sufficiently demonstrate 
that the indiscriminate use of modeling 
clay in the schools is unwise, and liable to 
distribute communicable diseases, if such 
are present among the pupils. 
A Preliminary Report upon a Hitherto Un- 
described Pathogenic Anaérobie Bacillus : 
Norman Harris, Baltimore, Md. 
This organism was isolated, post-mortem, 
from one of several abscesses in the liver of 
a man who had entered the service of Pro- 
fessor Halsted in the Johns Hopkins Hos- 
pital of Baltimore. He complained of great 
pain in the hepatic region of the abdomen, 
accompanied by nausea, vomiting and 
jaundice. Blood examination showed a 
marked leucocytosis. Exploratory laparot- 
omy was performed and the condition was 
found to be one of multiple abscess of the 
liver, and beyond radical treatment. The 
patient died the fourth day after op- 
eration. The autopsy disclosed the pres- 
throughout 
as well as in the right lung 
Petri dish cultures were made 
in plain and in hydrocele fluid agar and 
grown both aerobically and in an atmos- 
phere of hydrogen for a period of seventy- 
two hours. All dishes showed no growth, 
ence of numerous abscesses 
the liver, 
and spleen. 
SCIENCE. 
(N.S. Von. XIII. No. 322. 
except the undiluted hydrocele fluid cul- 
ture which had been in the hydrogen 
atmosphere. This developed four colonies 
surrounded by a halo of growth, and these 
appeared to arise from small particles of 
liver detritus. Subcultures were success- 
fully grown only when the media were 
made up with hydrocelic fluid or human 
blood, and when oxygen was excluded. 
Characteristics : the organism is a bacillus 
which in general is not minute, although its 
size varies somewhat on the various media. 
It may ocenr as cocci diplococci, very short 
rods, longer rods, filaments, or more rarely 
as. chains of cocci or very short rods. 
Occasionally some rods are seen to 
have swollen ends, or may show distinct 
polar granules, or may be slightly curved. 
It is non-motile; it is decolorized by 
Gram’s method of staining; it does not 
liquefy gelatin ; it does not appear to have 
spores ; its thermal death point is an ex- 
posure of ten minutes at 50°C. Im all 
media it gives off a very strong fecal odor, 
and forms gas from the ordinary and sugar- 
free beef broth, when made up with either 
hydrocele fluid or blood. It likewise ac- 
tively ferments glucose, forming CO,, H, 
and HS, the gas igniting readily. Experi- 
mentally, lesions similar to those found in 
the human subject were produced in rabbits 
and guinea-pigs, and mice succumbed to 
subcutaneous inoculation with a local ne- 
crotic lesion only. The name proposed for 
the organism is Bacillus mortiferus or Bac- 
teritum mortifer. The organism differs es- 
sentially from any of anaerobic bacilli hith- 
erto described. 
Concerning the Theories of Silage Formation : 
H. Li. Russern and §. M. Bascocr, Mad- 
ison, Wis. 
The authors instituted along series of ex- 
periments to determine whether the changes 
that take place in thesilo are due to micro- 
organisms, as has been believed, or to other 
